Architectural Considerations for a Minimum Mass, Minimum Energy, Artificial Gravity Environment

Adaptation to artificial gravity is easiest when the radius and tangential velocity are large. To minimize mass and kinetic energy, economics pushes in the opposite direction, toward small radius and tangential velocity. To promote adaptation to such an environment, habitat designers must pay particular attention to the arrangement of internal activities, with respect to varying magnitudes and directions of centripetal and Coriolis accelerations. This involves the orientation of habitat modules with respect to the rotation axis, the modules’ interior layout, and possibly other visual cues to help inhabitants maintain their own spatial orientation with respect to the spin.